Ill Tidings
by BeyondTheClouds777
Summary: Hiccup could handle being sick. But being kidnapped by Dagur as well as having the stomach flu? Now that was a different thing all together. (Requested by Asmita321) (Takes place during "Race to the Edge")
1. Chapter 1

**HELLO! :D New story! So, this is requested by Asmita321, who read "Eel Pox at Dragon's Edge" and wanted me to write this, so...yeah. It's another sick!Hiccup fanfiction, and I know, I just did one, but the plotline for this is COMPLETELY different, and it should be pretty fun, so...without further adieu...ENJOY CHAPTER 1! :D**

* * *

"UGH. Do we _have_ to do this drill, _again!?"_

Hiccup sighed. He would never understand why his cousin always seemed to hate every single little thing Hiccup asked him to do. Hiccup could tell him to go North, and Snotlout would go South. Hiccup could tell him to go South, and he would go North. Hiccup could tell him to do _anything_ , and it always seemed like Snotlout would do the exact opposite.

Except, as time wore on, it was becoming more of a reality than something that "seemed." Hiccup would never really understand his cousin, _ever_ , never in a thousand years. When Snotlout was doing his own thing, great, but the minute Hiccup asked him to do something for the rest of the group, it was "Oh, I don't want to do it! Let me do the opposite!"

"It's an important drill, Snotlout!" Astrid called to Snotlout just as Hiccup opened his mouth to do the same. "Hiccup knows what he's doing! We're working on new formations and new-"

"Blah blah blah!" Snotlout growled, mocking himself with his hand by making it "talk" like a puppet. "I know, Astrid, because Hiccup told me nearly seventeen times since we took air!"

They were working on a new flight formation Hiccup liked to call "scatter." It was where they would fly in a small, almost painfully enclosed circle and, when Hiccup shouted "scatter", they would turn and fly in different directions. It would be handy if Dagur attacked and used catapults on them, like he usually did.

"It's only because I needed to tell you seventeen times!" Hiccup said.

"And to be exact," Fishlegs pointed out in his trademark "let's be logical" tone, "it was _eighteen_ times Hiccup told you the drill, and seven times you asked him to tell him yourself because you _forgot_."

Hiccup sighed. The stress was making his head hurt. "Okay, okay, just drop it! Nevemind how many times. Let's just try this again," he said. "Okay, group up!" He put his arms over his head, creating a circle.

Snotlout groaned under his breath, but protested in no other spoken way as he and the others formed their circle with Hiccup flying at the front. Hiccup glanced at his friends and then refocused his attention to the sky in front of them.

"Okay!" he called. "Now...scatter!" He spread his arms apart, grabbed Toothless' saddlehorn, and he and the others broke off into six different directions. "Ha! Nicely done!" Hiccup congratulated. "Even you, Snotlout."

Snotlout crossed his arms and snorted. "Pfftt. I wasn't even trying!" he said, although it was clear he was lying. "I could do better than that! I could do better than all of you combined!"

"In that case," Hiccup said, "let's try it again. Group up! … Alright, now...SCATTER!"

This continued for another hour, until the new formation was drilled into their heads. The twins and Snotlout (surprisingly) didn't complain once they knew how to do it, although Hiccup was certain they would complain as soon as they had to practice it again.

By that time, the one dull ache in Hiccup's head had turned into a vicious stabbing ache, but he passed it off without concern. He had been up late last night, and he was up before the sun was even rising the next morning to work on the "scatter" drill himself before his friends woke up. Plus, he was stressed out. A lot, in fact. Snotlout stressed him out more than he wished to say out loud.

Once they landed back at Dragon's Edge, the sun was already setting. Hiccup slid off Toothless' back, as did the others around him. "So," Hiccup said, "do you guys want to-"

"I. AM. STARVING," Snotlout complained. "I need food! My warrior side is weakening! Whenever I don't eat, I always end up sleeping for days straight!"

"Oh," Astrid said. "We should have starved you a long time ago, Snotlout. What do you say, Hiccup?"

Hiccup rubbed his head. "Tempting, but no," he said. "We'll meet at the clubhouse for dinner. Fishlegs, think you can help me catch some fish?"

Fishlegs smiled. "Of course," he said. "Meatlug and I will be happy to help you!" He leaned against Meatlug, and in response, the Gronckle licked him tenderly, and Fishlegs smiled brighter.

"Okay," Hiccup said with a nod of his head. "Then let's go. Astrid, I'm leaving you in charge of Snotlout and the twins."

Astrid nodded and smiled. "Got it," she said.

Snotlout looked horrified. "What?" he blurted. "Why does _she_ get to be in charge!?"

Astrid glared at him warningly, and Snotlout shut himself up the instant she did so. "Okay, fine," he growled. "Be in charge all you want, but you can never cage my warrior spirit!"

"Then we'll go back to our idea of starving you," Astrid said. She nodded to Hiccup and Fishlegs in a clear _You can leave, I've got this_ motion, and Hiccup and Fishlegs read it, mounted their dragons, and headed towards the ocean.

Hiccup ignored his headache, instead focusing only on catching the fish for his friends. Fishlegs grabbed a basket from one of the houses, and then followed Hiccup to the ocean easily.

"Alright, you ready, Fishlegs?" Hiccup called, shouting to get his voice over the rushing wind.

"Yeah!" Fishlegs called back. "Meatlug and I are ready for _anything!"_

Hiccup nodded and patted Toothless' head. "Alright, bud!" he said. "Do your stuff!"

Toothless growled happily, and fired a plasma blast straight at the ocean. All at once, Hiccup's senses went goofy. His vision blurred, and his hearing zoned out as if his ears were clogged. He was aware of Fishlegs flying Meatlug where Toothless' plasma blast had met the ocean, scooping dead fish into his basket, but that was about it.

His headache got worse when Toothless fired a second time. He shook his head feverishly, but it only made it worse. When he opened his eyes, his vision was spinning, so he tried to keep his eyes shut as much as possible while, at the same time, trying to make sure he kept Toothless' tailfin open.

He remembered the drills they had worked on for hunting fish: Toothless would fire three plasma blasts, and Fishlegs (or Astrid, depending on which of them were present) would catch the fish that were killed and flung out of the sea in a basket.

Which meant that Toothless still had one more plasma blast to go. Hiccup didn't know if he would be able to take a third blast.

"Toothless, stop," he tried, but he was just a second too late. Toothless fired the third plasma blast, and Hiccup's vision went from slightly spinning to vicious turning, almost like how it looked while spinning out of control on Toothless.

Except, to him, it felt as though he _were_ spinning out of control. He shook his head once, and shook it again, but all this did was make it worse. He felt sick, his head pounded, and his surroundings felt unnaturally hot.

"Hiccup!?" he heard Fishlegs shout, and Hiccup opened his eyes long enough to regard his friend. "What's wrong!?"

"Nothing," Hiccup lied. "Nothing's wrong. I-" He cut himself off when he leaned to the side and threw up. His throat burned, and he coughed, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

Fishlegs' eyes widened. "You're sick!" he cried.

Hiccup knew Fishlegs was right, but he didn't want to admit it. He didn't want to admit he was sick, no, not by a long shot, but there was no hiding it now. He couldn't even blame his sickness on an aerial stunt; he and Toothless weren't even moving.

At length, he sighed in defeat and promptly began coughing into the crook of his elbow. "Y-yeah," he stuttered. "I think I might be."

Fishlegs instantly looked back to the shore. "Dragonback is too dangerous," he said. "We'll land and walk back to Dragon's Edge. It isn't too far a distance. Think you can make it?"

Hiccup rolled his eyes and had to shut them to keep himself from vomiting again. "I can make it," he choked out, and shut his mouth afterwards. _I'm not dying,_ he thought to himself. _Why's Fishlegs so freaked out? He's melodramatic, that's what he is. A drama queen._

But all in all, he was thankful that it was Fishlegs to learn first and not Snotlout. He nodded, and they headed back to the shore.

Hiccup hated being sick.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, guys! :D We get HICCSTRID in this chapter! :D So, I don't think I'll be doing shout-outs this chapter, but THE NEXT CHAPTER, I will. :D So, I hope you like chapter 3 and are enjoying this story as a whole. See you next time I update! :D**

* * *

"Snotlout, please sit down," Astrid tried for the utmost time. She was trying to be nice to Snotlout, really, she was, because she knew Hiccup would be upset if he returned to find his cousin dead, but at the same time, her patience with Snotlout and the twins was wearing thin. Too thin, perhaps.

If Hiccup and Fishlegs didn't get back soon, she would end up using her axe.

"Ugh! Fine!" Snotlout finally complied, motioning for Hookfang to sit down. Hookfang snorted at Astrid, and Astrid glared back at the Nightmare warningly. Hookfang instantly laid down, although he looked beyond reluctant. "When will Hiccup and Fishface be back?" Snotlout groaned. "I'm starving, Astrid!"

"Take it like a man," Astrid huffed, her hands on her hips. Behind Snotlout, the twins were trying to see how long they could bash their heads together before they passed out. The one to pass out first was the loser. Astrid had no problem with them knocking each other unconscious. It would help her more than anything, in the end.

They had moved outside after Hookfang and Barf and Belch became restless, and there they were, waiting for Hiccup and Fishlegs' return. Astrid was wondering what was keeping them so long. Normally, it took about five minutes, but so far, it had been at least fifteen. She was getting worried now.

"Astrid!"

That was Fishlegs' voice, and Astrid sighed inwardly with relief. They were back. She was freed from Snotlout and the twins. When she turned around in the direction Fishlegs' voice had come from, however, she began to worry all over again.

"Hiccup!" she said, concern evident in her voice as she raced over to him. Fishlegs was practically dragging him with one of Hiccup's arms around his shoulders. Toothless was helping to support Hiccup's other side, and Meatlug carried the basket of fish on her back, not that Astrid cared about that last detail. Hiccup's eyes were only half open, and he was abnormally pale, looking ready to collapse at any given moment.

Astrid took his face in her hands, brushing his bangs out of his face in an attempt to look into his eyes. Fishlegs and Toothless stepped back slowly as the twins and Snotlout also approached. "What happened!?" Astrid asked, unaware of how frantic she sounded. "What's wrong!?"

"He's sick," Fishlegs explained in place of Hiccup, who looked ready to pass out at that point. "It's some sort of stomach flu, I think."

"I'm alright," Hiccup said, and it was painfully obvious that he was lying. He groaned, shutting his eyes tightly and gritting his teeth, wrapping his arm around his stomach.

"Whoa, whoa," Astrid grabbed his shoulders, trying to be gentle although it didn't work very well, and she was sure she was going to give him bruises. "Okay...deep breaths, take deep breaths, Hiccup."

Hiccup nodded shakily and worked to do as she had told him to.

"He needs bedrest," Fishlegs said simply, breaking Astrid out of her thoughts. She looked over Hiccup's shoulder at Fishlegs as he spoke. "I'll make him some broth and bring it over," Fishlegs finished.

"Wait, why?" Tuffnut asked. Astrid looked back at the male twin, biting back the urge to yell at him for being so oblivious. "Is he sick?" Tuffnut asked again.

"Duh," Snotlout snapped angrily, just as Astrid was about to do the same thing. "Does he _look not sick_ to you?"

Tuffnut tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Are we going to get tested on this, because I am _completely_ confused," he said.

"You usually are," Snotlout grumbled. "Why am I not surprised."

"Guys, knock it off," Astrid ordered. Sure, she was going to scold Tuffnut, but now, Snotlout was just being annoying. "Thank you, Fishlegs," Astrid said, turning back to the boy she was speaking to. "Broth will be good for him. Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Snotlout, you guys are welcome to eat if you want. Just make sure you keep it down."

Snotlout, Fishlegs and the twins nodded, and Astrid looked back at Hiccup. "Come on," she said. "Let's get you to bed."

Hiccup nodded shakily and let her lead him away. She couldn't help but notice how sweaty he felt, and when she put her hand on his forehead, she felt a fever raging through his veins. She sighed, wrapping her arm around his shoulders. "You should have said you weren't feeling well," she scolded. Toothless and Stormfly followed them closely, Toothless on Hiccup's side and Stormfly on Astrid's side.

Hiccup sniffed. "Sorry," he murmured. "I didn't think I was sick…"

"Well," Astrid said, "do you know you're sick _now?"_

Hiccup nodded, swallowing thickly.

Astrid smiled sadly. "Good," she said. "Now, we'll get you to bed, and I'll get something for your fever, alright?"

Hiccup nodded again, his movements small. There was no arguing with Astrid, especially when her mind was made up about something, and Hiccup knew that.

He didn't know why he felt so rotten all of a sudden. It just seemed like one moment he was fine, and the next moment, _boom_ , he was puking his guts up.

Well, he supposed he had it coming to him. He should have sat down and took a break when his headache got worse, but nope. Instead, he flew over the ocean on dragonback and made himself sick.

Speaking of being sick, his stomach was cramping again. He tried to ignore it, tried to think of something else or steady his breathing, but it didn't help, and he found himself sinking to his knees and throwing up again in the bushes. He heard Astrid say something he couldn't make out, but he really couldn't bring himself to care. Astrid patted his back awkwardly, and although it was clear she was at a loss of what to do, Hiccup accepted what comfort she could give him.

Besides, it was just the stomach flu. He didn't feel completely bad. As soon as he got everything out of his system, he would be back to his normal self.

Astrid sighed. "Think you're done?" she asked, and Hiccup nodded, pushing himself back to his feet. Astrid grabbed his forearm, and the two continued towards Hiccup's residence with the dragons walking behind them, watching the two dragon riders with concern.

Hiccup became a little more aware as they walked, but even then, it was hardly enough to call an improvement. He still felt too hot and weak, and walking certainly wasn't helping anything, but he continued on, because he was stubborn and didn't want to worry Astrid or his friends anymore.

When they got to Hiccup's hut, Toothless raced in front of them and shoved the door open. After a quick "thank you" to the Night Fury, Astrid and Hiccup headed inside.

Instantly, as soon as they climbed the stairs to the loft, Hiccup crawled into his bed and laid there on his front miserably, letting his eyes shut without his full knowing it. He felt Astrid pull the blanket over his body, and he relaxed further.

Astrid kissed his temple kindly. "I'll be back," she promised, her voice barely rising above a whisper. "I'm going to get some water for you."

She turned and headed off, shutting the door behind her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey, guys! Chapter 3! :D My wrist is really sore...ugh. Ick. It makes me feel mad. But here's the shout-outs I promised! :D**

 **Lightclaw's Shadow: I know! Poor Hiccup! I love Hiccstrid though, and I'm glad you do, too! :D**

 **HiccupHaddockIII: Thanks! I'm glad everyone in the fandom seems to like Hiccstrid, or else I would be in trouble. :P :D**

 **silverwolvesarecool: Thanks, Sil! I'm glad you liked it! :D**

 **Shizuku Tsukishima749: Thanks a bunch! I'm really happy you like it. :D**

 **ScarletNightFury: Yeah, poor Hiccup...**

 **Markiplier is My Senpai: Yeah, seriously. I hate the stomach flu. :(**

 **Animals Rule: :D Thanks for the reviews! :D**

 **hiccupandtoothless294: I'm glad you think it's good. :D**

* * *

Across the oceans, three ships were slicing through the water, towards a set destination that was to not be changed under any circumstances by penalty of death. Dagur the Deranged stood at the bow of the ship, overlooking the waters ahead of them.

"We should reach their base by midnight at this rate, Dagur!" Savage reported, giving his deranged leader a salute.

Dagur turned to him, his glare hardening. "What did you call me?" he asked, too sweetly to match the image on his face.

Savage understood his mistake instantly, and he tried to take back what he'd said. "Oh, I meant...your _derangedness_ , sire," he said instead, bowing lowly.

Dagur chuckled darkly. "Derangedness," he said, turning his eyes back to the sea. He laughed again, this time in a higher voice. "I like it. Rolls right off the tongue, doesn't it? Although next time you slip...I might not let you get off so easily." He drew his sword for extra emphasis, and Savage took a step back, swallowing.

"Point made," Savage said, nodding. Dagur retracted his sword and sheathed it once again. "So," Savage said, "if we're attacking their base, why didn't we bring the whole fleet?"

"Because," Dagur said, "we don't know how to activate the...whoodicky thingamajig that we want. The thing Hiccup stole from the Reaper. If this mission was simple, we would steal it, but we don't know how to work it, so, we're going to capture...well...Hiccup, who else?" He laughed again.

"Sire," Savage began nervously, "I don't see how this is a plan."

Dagur glared at him, his laughing coming to an abrupt stop. "After my _brother_ is in my custody," Dagur said, "we'll leave a little note for his friends. They have to bring me the thing that I want, show me how to work it, and then...and only then, will I release Hiccup."

"But sir," Savage tried again.

"QUIET," Dagur snapped. "Go, I want this ship at Dragon's Edge as soon as it's dark! We can't wait until midnight! Go!"

Savage scrambled to do as ordered.

"Oh, and Savage," Dagur called, and Savage froze. "After we capture Hiccup and everything," Dagur walked forward, and Savage remained still, "as soon as you see his friends flying in on their dragons to save the day…" He grinned madly. "...Shoot them out of the sky."

Savage smiled. "Dead or alive, sire?" he asked.

Dagur tapped his chin in thought, and shrugged. "Either way works for me," he said casually.

…

"Hey, Fishlegs." Astrid knocked on Fishlegs' door, and the boy opened it instantly, stepping aside to let Astrid in. "Did you have a chance to make any broth?"

"I did, actually, Astrid," Fishlegs said proudly, gesturing to a pot hanging over his fireplace, which Meatlug was lying in front of.

Astrid nodded. "You'll have to save it," she said. "I don't think Hiccup can eat anything right now." She shut the door behind her.

Fishlegs sighed. "Yes, I assumed just as much," he said. "The stomach flu's a nasty thing. How do you think he got it?" As he spoke, he stacked books and put them on his shelf neatly, like they always were.

"There are lots of ways he could have gotten it," Astrid said. She picked up a book absently and handed it to Fishlegs. "It could have been something he ate, maybe he stayed up all night again...I don't know. But the important thing is that he has it now, and we have to take care of him."

Fishlegs nodded in agreement. "Should we get help from Berk?" he asked.

Astrid shook her head. "I thought about that, Fishlegs," she said. "Berk is a good day and a half away from here, so it would take three days for one of us to go to Berk and return, and by then, chances are, Hiccup's bug will be over with."

Fishlegs didn't look convinced, and Astrid understood why he didn't. She wasn't fully convinced with herself, either, but she knew Hiccup was strong, despite what others might say or think of him. She knew he would have a fast recovery.

"Look," Astrid said, "if he isn't doing better by tomorrow morning, we can send someone back to Berk. Alright?"

Fishlegs nodded yet again. "Okay, sounds good," he said. "Here." He handed her a cup full of sickly-sweet smelling herbs. "It should help his nausea," he explained when she gave him an odd "please-tell-me-what-the-heck-this-is" look. She nodded in understanding.

"Thanks, Fishlegs," Astrid said.

"Oh, here." Fishlegs poured some of the broth into a pail, and he handed that to Astrid as well. "Just in case he wants to eat something," Fishlegs said.

Astrid thanked him, and without another word, left for Hiccup's residence again. On her way, she collected a rag, and a bucket of cold water to use against Hiccup's fever. Her hands were kind of full at that point, but she managed.

She knocked on the door with her foot as soon as she reached his place. It was already dark, and Astrid assumed the rest of the dragon riders had already gone to bed. The night was tranquil and very peaceful, which she was thankful for. Hiccup could get some real sleep now.

"Knock knock?" she called, not wanting to disturb Hiccup if he was already sleeping. If he was sleeping, she would slip in quietly, leave the cup of herbs and broth on the table, and put the wet rag on his forehead. If he was awake, she would give him the herbs, put the rag on his forehead with instructions for him to not take it off, and leave him to sleep.

When Hiccup didn't answer, Astrid nudged the door open, set the pail of soup down on the table, and made her way upstairs. Just as she figured, Hiccup was sleeping, lying on his back with Toothless' head on his chest. Toothless lifted his head to look at Astrid for a moment before resting it over his rider's body once again.

Astrid set the cup of herbs down on the bedside table and sat on the edge of the bed. She placed the bucket on the floor, soaked the rag in it, and laid it across Hiccup's forehead, trying to be careful so she didn't wake him.

He still looked peaked, his forehead covered in a thin layer of sweat, which worried Astrid. Sure, they always got sick sometimes - beit Snotlout, Fishlegs, the twins, her, or Hiccup - but that didn't make the experience any more enjoyable. Not by a long shot.

But it was part of living on Dragon's Edge alone, with nothing but each other. It was part of exploring the world.

She looked down at Hiccup when she noticed his eyes were open. He smiled weakly up at her, squinting. "Hey," he said. "Hi."

"Hi," Astrid whispered. "Sorry I woke you. You can go back to sleep. Actually," she reached over, taking the cup off the table, "here. Drink this first, and then go back to sleep."

Hiccup sighed, yet nodded in the end, remembering that there was no arguing with Astrid Hofferson. Astrid helped him sit up, leaning him back against the headboard of his bed. Afterwards, she handed him the cup, and he sniffed it before taking a sip.

Almost instantly, he recoiled. "Bleh," he spat. "What...what _is_ this?"

"Fishlegs said it'll help your nausea," Astrid said.

"It will _help_ my nausea?" Hiccup questioned in obvious disbelief, staring into the cup as if it had wronged him in some way. "Unfortunately, Astrid, this will probably only serve to make it worse."

"I trust Fishlegs," Astrid said. "He's not trying to poison you...Oh, don't look at me like _that_. It's not _my_ fault."

Although it was clear he was reluctant to comply, Hiccup, after more persuasion from Astrid, downed the contents of the cup, set it back down on the table, and sank back underneath his covers, laying on his side. Astrid re-wet the rag and laid it back on his forehead.

"Sorry you're sick," she said sympathetically.

"It's alright," Hiccup murmured. "It's not your fault."

She stayed with him for another good fifteen minutes, and by then, he had fallen asleep once again, his chest rising and falling steadily. She stood up and headed towards stairs, pausing just before she walked out, looking over her shoulder at her ill friend one last time before heading to her own residence to get some sleep herself.

She was unaware of the quickly approaching Berserker ships and the danger that lied in store.


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's chapter 4! Thanks to all who reviewed last chapter, and here's your shout-outs! :D**

 **Lightclaw's Shadow: Ick, Dagur! I hate Dagur...**

 **NightFuryHunter: I know, right? There will be a lot of Hiccstrid in this fanfiction, especially nearing the end of it, soooooo...yeah. :D Thanks for reviewing!**

 **Asmita321: Yeowch! I hate burns, especially when they blister! I got a burn on my knuckle once, and I STILL have the scar from it, and it was like, four years ago! It's crazy...thanks for reviewing, and I hope you like the story so far. You requested it, after all. :D**

 **hiccupandtoothless294: Seriously, Dagur! Think for a moment!**

 **Shizuku Tsukishima749: Wow, thanks so much! I try really hard to keep all the characters in...well, character, and it makes me smile to know that I'm succeeding. :D Thank you again! :D**

* * *

Dagur and Savage stepped onto the shore, leaving their ships behind. The rest of their men took up crossbows should someone learn of their presence while Savage took sleeping darts. Dagur took a deep breath of the night air through his nose and exhaled through his mouth. "Ahh," he breathed, almost dreamily. "What a perfect night for a kidnapping, wouldn't you say?"

Savage snapped to attention. "Yes, sire," he said.

Dagur obviously didn't notice the waver in the ex-Outcast's voice, or he would have mentioned it. He turned back towards their surroundings and examined them. "It's quiet," he said. "You would think they would be training. It's the perfect night to, of course." He shrugged. This was good news. If they were taking a night off of training, capturing Hiccup would be easier. It meant they wouldn't have to worry about somehow running into another one of the dragon riders.

He grinned. "Alright," he said, turning back towards the men on the ships. "If anyone comes, use dart guns. We need Hiccup's friends alive if we're ever going to get their secrets out of him. Stay here, and _keep it down_. If you don't, I'll show you just how well I sharpened my axe."

It sounded like a good plan, and Dagur had confidence that it was going to work. So, he turned, grabbed a small bag of darts, and headed upwards.

He'd never been to Dragon's Edge, but it wasn't hard to find Hiccup's residence. The structure of it was well-built, which had Hiccup written all over it. Most of the other houses Dagur passed either had serious structural issues, were too decorated, or too heavily armored to be something Hiccup would live in.

So, when he came to the most normal looking of the group, he knew it was Hiccup's easily. He crept towards the door, and pushed it open as quickly as he dared.

He stepped inside, leaving the door cracked so that the moonlight would supply him with enough light to get his job done.

He glanced about the establishment for a brief moment before his eyes caught movement, and he turned, just as Toothless bounded down the stairs and growled warningly.

Dagur sighed. "Don't look at me like that," he said. "I'm not here to hurt 'cha. Yet…"

Toothless sprang forward, stopping directly in front of Dagur, who flinched, but didn't back down. Dagur rolled his eyes. "You can't scare me, dragon," he said. "I am Dagur the Deranged. Nothing scares me."

Toothless growled, louder this time, his teeth bared.

"So," Dagur said, "where is my brother?"

Many things happened at once: Toothless pounced, Dagur threw one of his sleeping darts, and the next thing he knew, the Night Fury was unconscious. Dagur could have laughed. He didn't think that would actually _work_ that easily.

Now, he needed to find Hiccup. If Toothless was here, then Hiccup couldn't have been too far off.

Not many things shocked Dagur, but he had to admit, he was a little confused when Hiccup stumbled down the stairs, a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. In the faint moonlight, Dagur could tell in a heartbeat that something was off. Instead of being hyper or concerned at the ruckus, Hiccup looked more...bleary. His normally bright, intense eyes were red and unfocused, almost as if he hadn't slept for days. His hair was messier than usual, his face abnormally pale.

"What was that?" he slurred; there was a rasp in his voice that Dagur found odd. "Toothless?" Hiccup looked around the room, and when he saw Dagur, he sighed, almost as if he were disappointed. "I'm not showing you how to use the Dragon Eye," Hiccup muttered as if it were an afterthought.

This wasn't like him, so Dagur assumed that something was _definitely_ wrong. Normally, Hiccup would shout, "How did you get in here!?" or "What are you doing here!?" or the ever-so-frequent, "Dagur. I should have known."

Instead, Hiccup stumbled over his own feet, grabbed a bowl off the table, and looked into a pail Dagur had noticed when he first came in. "Oh, broth, okay," Hiccup said, his eyes brightening for a split second.

Dagur watched him curiously, not knowing what to do. Was he... _sick?_ "Um…" Dagur cleared his throat, and Hiccup looked at him expectantly. "Hiccup," Dagur began.

"Oh, sorry," Hiccup said, shaking his head. "Where are my manners...you hungry?" At this, he scooted the bowl towards Dagur and gestured to the pail of broth.

Dagur shook his head. "No. Actually..." he took in a breath, "...This is actually a kidnapping."

Hiccup sighed and rested his head in his hands. "Darn it, not again," he muttered. "Could you come back some other time?"

Dagur was considering doing that, now that he was actually seeing Hiccup. But at the same time...this could be one of his best opportunities to capture Hiccup, when he was sick and vulnerable. Besides, if his friends knew he was sick, and if they knew that Dagur had him in his clutches, they would probably move all the faster to save him.

But, on the other hand...did Dagur _really_ want to deal with a sick Hiccup?

Dagur sighed. He would have to, in order to get what he wanted. Hopefully it was worth it in the end.

"No," Dagur said. "You're coming with me."

Hiccup groaned under his breath and put his head on the table. "Being sick stinks," he grumbled.

Dagur tilted his head to one side. "Yes, I suppose it does," he said. "But nevermind that. We're leaving."

Hiccup laughed, and promptly started coughing afterwards. "You make it sound like we're going on vacation," he said as soon as his fit of coughing came to an end.

When Dagur didn't answer, Hiccup groaned again and rose unsteadily to his feet.

"Are you contagious?" Dagur questioned.

Hiccup shrugged. "I dunno. Probably. Why?"

Dagur sighed. He was _not_ in the mood to get sick, especially with whatever Hiccup had. _It'll be worth it in the end,_ he told himself. _I'll have the Dragon Eye. I'll know how to take Hiccup and his friends down. Getting sick is a worthy sacrifice._

Hiccup blinked. "I'm seeing spots," he said flatly. He blinked again. "And now they're stars...ugh…"

He then collapsed, hitting the floor like a stone. Dagur stared at him, torn between pity and getting what he wanted. He glanced back at the unconscious Night Fury, and looked back down at the unconscious boy on the ground.

This was his best chance, and he had to take it.

He wrote a message out on paper and left it on Hiccup's desk before turning back to his captive. He hooked his arms underneath Hiccup's, and then proceeded to drag the Berkian heir. He should have brought Savage with him. Savage should have been the one to drag Hiccup across the island.

He felt an odd feeling of pity at what he was doing to Hiccup. Normally, he would give his victims a chance to fight. He didn't feel it was fair if they didn't even have a chance, like Hiccup. Besides, he kind of felt bad for the boy. He and Hiccup had been best friends when they were younger. Every time the Berserkers went to Berk for the peace treaty signing, he and Hiccup would always go exploring, hunting for trolls, or even swimming once or twice.

That ended the day Dagur almost drowned Hiccup, but still. They were friends, back in the day, and part of Dagur wished they were still friends, but…

They were enemies now, and nothing was going to change that. They were enemies. Hiccup lied to Dagur, and now, Hiccup was going to pay for it. Hiccup chose Toothless over his brother, and Dagur was going to make him sorry.

Although he still felt bad about not giving Hiccup a chance to fight back.

But hey, at least now, he didn't have to use a sleeping dart on Hiccup.


	5. Chapter 5

**Ryu Hizume: Yeah, I agree. I want to see Hiccup sick in an episode of "Race to the Edge" sometime. :)**

 **Markiplier is My Senpai: Haha, thanks! :D I like writing about a sick Hiccup...I know I'm weird. :P**

 **Lightclaw's Shadow: I know, right? I don't like Dagur...**

 **Toothless801: Thanks! :D MAKE. DAGUR. PAY! DAGUR YOU...YOU...WOMBAT! Ha, insulting Dagur is fun. :) FUTURE HICCSTRID, YES! Lots of HICCSTRID! ALL THE HICCSTRID! HICCSTRID FOR THE WIN! :D I love Hiccstrid, if you can't tell. XD And thanks! I don't honestly think Dagur is _all_ heartless. I mean...he and Hiccup used to be _brothers_. I kinda feel sorry for Dagur, in some ways...but on the other hand...LET'S INSULT HIM AGAIN! :D :D :D **

**hiccupandtoothless294: Yeah, Hiccup was _llooooooppppyyy_. :P **

**sophhascoconuts: I'm glad I made you laugh. :D Thanks for reviewing! :D**

 **Iris Patton: I know! Poor Hiccup...**

 **Asmita321: You're welcome! I am SO glad you requested it! I'm having a BLAST. :D**

 **Dragon Fire: Thanks! :D**

 **ScarletNightFury: Yeah, haha. He was totally deadpan...deeerp. Poor Hiccup. :(**

 **Shizuku Tsukishima749: Thank you! :D I liked writing that Dagur-conflicted moment, and I'm glad you enjoyed it. :D**

 **Forever Me: You're welcome, and thank you for reviewing! :D**

* * *

Astrid knocked on the door to Hiccup's house the next morning, waiting for his response. "Hiccup," she called. "Are you up?"

There was no answer, which she had been partially expecting. He was probably sleeping, but sleeping or not, she had to find out whether or not he was okay so she could determine if she needed to send someone back to Berk to get help.

She knocked again, getting the same results. "I'm opening the door now, Hiccup," she said, and pushed the door open a moment later.

What she saw shocked her. Toothless was lying on the floor, seemingly asleep, but something was definitely wrong. He was in a bizarre position, almost as if he had crashed to the floor and fell asleep. Astrid strode towards him, trying to figure out what the problem was, but then she saw it. A dart, lodged into Toothless' leg. Astrid looked at it curiously for a moment.

That was _not_ good.

She instantly turned and raced up the stairs. If Toothless was unconscious with a sleeping dart in his leg, there must have been some sort of reason. Someone had attacked, right under her nose.

She hoped beyond hope that she would find Hiccup upstairs, but she found nothing. The bed was empty.

He was gone.

She raced back downstairs, trying to make sense of it. Who would attack? It didn't matter who, exactly. What mattered was that they found out soon.

"Hiccup!" she shouted, just in case he was somewhere else and could hear her shouting. No response. "HICCUP!" she shouted, louder the second time. Still nothing.

She was panicking. He was gone, and more than that, he was sick. Whoever kidnapped him wasn't going to pity him, obviously. Kidnappers normally weren't patient or kind.

She then noticed a note on the table, and she picked it up, examining it, looking for clues. Once she read over the words written on the paper, her heart skipped a beat.

 _Hello! I have Hiccup! If you want him alive, you'll present yourselves, the thingamajig I want, and information on how to use it! You have one week to get it to me, or I'll kill Hiccup._

 _Have a nice day! :)_

 _-Dagur the Deranged_

Astrid wanted to scream in fury. Dagur took Hiccup. How _dare_ he? She shrieked in anger and frustrated fury, crumpling the note and throwing it across the room. She wanted to find Dagur, cut off his legs, cauterize the wounds, chop off his arms, cauterize those wounds, stab him in the stomach, throw him off a cliff, stab him in the chest, and then finally throw him down a waterfall to be killed by Thunderdrums or scorched to death by Scauldrons.

Dagur had captured Hiccup before, but never when he was sick, and it made Astrid furious.

And wasn't that just the underestimate of the year?

She turned and ran back towards Toothless. She pulled the sleeping dart out of his leg, found the bucket of water from upstairs, and dumped it over the Night Fury's head. The dragon roared indignantly and shot to his feet, looking around frantically.

"Hey, hey hey!" Astrid shouted, waving her hands in front of Toothless' face to get his attention. Toothless froze, sniffing her hands. "Dagur has Hiccup," Astrid said.

Toothless roared.

"I know, I know!" Astrid shouted. "I want to kill him, too! Dagur, of course, not Hiccup, although I might flatten him anyways...NEVERMIND. Come on, let's get the others!"

She turned and raced back out of the house, towards the houses of her friends with Toothless following her closely. They only had a week before Dagur killed Hiccup, and she wasn't going to waste any time. Every second was valuable.

They had to get him back, before it was too late.

…

At first, when Dagur got Hiccup back to the ship and had the boy's hands tied behind his back, Dagur was sure that capturing Hiccup when he was sick was probably one of the best ideas he ever had.

Until Hiccup woke up halfway through the voyage. That was when Dagur started to doubt that his idea had been a good one.

He had expected Hiccup to try to escape, or shout for help as if someone could hear him, but instead, he simply stood up, stumbled towards the side of the ship, and threw up.

It was then that Dagur thought maybe they did have a problem, especially with how violent the sea was being, tossing and turning as if there were no tomorrow. They weren't even close to getting to the rest of their armada.

Hiccup coughed. "Why tie me?" he grumbled, glancing over at Dagur. "What do you expect me to _do?_ Cough you to death?"

Dagur blinked. Sick or not sick, he supposed Hiccup would always be sarcastic, but at the same time…

UGH. He really needed to stop feeling sorry for his prisoners.

"Untie him," Dagur growled. "There's no reason to keep him tied."

Savage nodded faintly and stepped forward, taking a dagger off his belt and using it to cut away Hiccup's bindings. Hiccup rubbed his wrists as soon as the ropes were off.

"Thanks," he muttered. He sank to the ground and stayed there, leaning against the side of the ship. "How much longer?" he slurred.

"As long as it takes," Dagur said in response. "When your friends yet here, we'll make a trade."

Dagur expected Hiccup to protest, but instead, Hiccup shrugged. "My friends are going to kick you and your armada into next month," he said subconsciously. "They don't like it when you capture me, especially Astrid. She'll probably wring your throat and _then_ kick you into next month."

Dagur shrugged. "Possibly," he said. "But what if I killed her first?"

That got Hiccup's attention, and the boy shot into a sitting position again, staring at Dagur, for the first time since the journey's begin, looking fully aware of everything Dagur was saying.

"Hurt her," Hiccup said, "and _I_ will kick you into next month."

"That's the thing," Dagur said. "I have a plan. I'll knock your little friends out of the sky with catapults, and let the ocean finish them off. Sleeping darts to the dragons, maybe I'll use darts to the riders, too. Send them to the ocean for them to drown...or maybe I'll drag them all back here and kill them, one by one, right in front of you. How does that - OWWW!"

He didn't have time to finish his thought, because Hiccup picked up a hammer from the deck and threw it at Dagur. Dagur clutched his leg and hopped on one foot, glaring at Hiccup.

Hiccup rolled his eyes. His smugness was cut short when Dagur kicked him roughly in the ribs, but the more Dagur thought about it, it wasn't actually Hiccup's fault. He was defending himself, that was all.

 _I shouldn't have kidnapped him,_ Dagur thought to himself. _I should have left him._ Because so far, it wasn't worth it. Going through all the trouble to kidnap Hiccup when he was this sick was simply _not worth it_.

But it was too late to change his mind. He had Hiccup now, and he certainly wasn't going to give him _back._ His friends were probably already on their way.

Hiccup cried out at the force of Dagur's kick, and Dagur was frustrated with him more than anything. He didn't want to pity Hiccup, but he didn't want to fight him exactly. He told Hiccup before that he didn't care about sporting, but...

"Tie him again!" Dagur shouted at his men. "And put him below decks!"

While Dagur's followers raced to do as Dagur had ordered, Dagur limped back towards Savage. "If he gives you any trouble," Dagur said, "you have my permission to knock him out."

Savage nodded. "With darts, or with hammer?"

"With whichever one is more painful."


	6. Chapter 6

**HELLO HELLO, GUYS! :D**

 **So, unfortunately, I won't be able to do shout-outs this chapter. I'm sorry, guys! I'm really busy toady, and if I do shout-outs right now, I won't be able to post until later on tonight or tomorrow, and I wanted to get a chapter out to you lovely people...**

 **I READ ALL THE REVIEWS, I PROMISE. And they TOTALLY made my day, so thank you all! :D So, here's chapter 6! :D**

* * *

Saying he felt terrible would have been an underestimate. He felt far worse than terrible, and being on the rocking ship in the middle of the ocean wasn't helping his nausea. He got seasick as it was without having a flu bug on top of it. Now, he was both. Seasick, and sick, on Dagur's ship, locked in a cage below decks.

Hiccup didn't know how it could get any worse. His friends were coming after him, he knew that much, but he didn't want them to. Dagur wasn't joking when he said that he would kill them. Hiccup knew that he would if he got his hands on them, and Hiccup didn't want that happening. He couldn't _stand_ the thought of that happening. It made him feel even sicker, if it were possible.

Dagur stepped down the stairs leading below deck and glared at Hiccup. "Think you're pretty smart, don't you?" he snapped.

Although Hiccup knew it was a trick question, he shrugged anyway, trying to keep himself from either shuddering or vomiting. "Actually, I do," he said. "Why do you ask?"

Dagur crossed his arms, looking very much like he would rather throw Hiccup overboard than deal with his comebacks. "You may be smug now," he said, "but let's see how smug you are when your friends are dead."

There it was again. Ooooh, Dagur knew how to get under his skin, and Hiccup hated it. Dagur knew how to get Hiccup angry. Dagur knew what to say to make him mad. Dagur knew the right buttons to push to make Hiccup give in to whatever Dagur wanted.

"So." Hiccup sniffed, wiping sweat that beaded on his forehead with the back of his hand. "What _do_ you want, Dagur?"

Dagur tapped his chin in mock thought. "Oh, I don't know," he said. "I guess I want what I've always wanted, brother."

That was another thing that got under his skin. "Brother." They weren't _brothers_. Dagur was no brother of Hiccup's, and even if Dagur _was_ , that didn't justify the Berserker's actions.

"I've always wanted to watch Berk fall," Dagur said, clenching his fists. "I've always wanted it, you know, ever since I was young. I imagined what your village would look like in flames, and now, as soon as your friends get here with the diddly thing I want, I can take it for my own."

"The Dragon Eye," Hiccup grumbled. "It's called the Dragon Eye."

Dagur rolled his eyes. "Oh so typical, Hiccup," he said casually. "Anyways, I was going to leave you be until your friends got here, but I thought, where's the fun in that? So, I brought something for you."

"A present?" Hiccup shut his mouth as soon as he finished speaking, trying to ward off another wave of nausea. "For me? How thoughtful."

Dagur unlocked Hiccup's cell just long enough to throw a burlap sack into it. Hiccup watched the bag for a few moments, wondering what it was.

Then, it started moving - or, whatever was in the bag started moving, squirming, growling…

Dagur smiled. "A Terrible Terror," he said. "So, now, I want you to show me how to train it."

Hiccup frowned. "I'm sorry, Dagur," he said unapologetically, "but I'm not training anything for you. So sorry to disappoint you. You can leave now. You know where the door is."

Dagur gritted his teeth, trying to keep the fake smile plastered on his face. "Perhaps I didn't make myself clear," he said, leaning forward. "If you don't train it, I'll kill it, right in front of you."

Hiccup was willing to do a lot of things, but letting an innocent creature die was not one of them. At length, he sighed in defeat. Yes, Dagur knew how to get under his skin.

It was terrifying.

Hiccup crawled towards the sack and opened it. Almost instantly, a dark purple Terrible Terror raced out of it, snarling and scratching the ground. In Hiccup's opinion, it looked rather cute. To anyone else who didn't know how to train a dragon, it would look vicious, but to Hiccup, it just looked adorable, even when it was snarling and biting at the bars and hissing at the sack that once held it prisoner.

"Yes!" Dagur said, sounding way too cheerful. "Now show me how you do it!"

Hiccup was annoyed, so he ignored Dagur. He wasn't going to _show him_ anything. He was going to train the dragon in the most subtle way possible to protect both himself and the Terror.

As soon as the small dragon looked at him, it growled. Its growl was so pathetic that Hiccup never imagined it scaring anyone. Of course, he said none of those things out loud. Instead, he held his hand out to the dragon weakly.

He knew how territorial Terrible Terrors were, and once the little dragon realized that Hiccup wasn't going to hurt it, everything would work out fine. The purple dragon looked at Hiccup's hand curiously for just a moment before nuzzling up against it.

Hiccup sighed in relief. That was easy. "Hey, little guy," he whispered, rubbing the Terror's head. "You don't like it here, do you?" The dragon grunted and purred in response.

Dagur stared at them with a mix of confusion and awe. "How do you _do_ that?" he asked.

The Terrible Terror looked back at Dagur, screeched in anger, and lept onto Hiccup's forearm. Hiccup laughed softly. "I don't think he likes you very much, Dagur," he said.

The dragon squawked in agreement, its teeth bared.

Dagur simply shrugged. "Fine," he said. "Let it hate me if it wants to. I don't care what it wants."

The Terror roared angrily.

"He doesn't like to be called 'it'," Hiccup said matter-of-factly.

"I. DON'T. CARE. WHAT. HE. DOES. AND. DOESN'T. LIKE!" Dagur yelled.

Hiccup sighed. "You said 'he' that time," he said.

Dagur looked tongue tied for a few moments, stuttering like a dumbfounded fool and gaping like a fish. "Shut up!" Dagur snapped. He turned without another word and left, back to the main deck of the ship.

As soon as Dagur was gone, Hiccup let himself fall sideways, resting his head on the cool wood of the floor. It smelled musty and filthy, and it did nothing to help his nausea, and after a few more minutes, he threw up again, although he didn't have anything else in his stomach, so it was more dry heaving than anything.

The Terrible Terror trilled, licking Hiccup's forehead. Hiccup rubbed the dragon's head again, shutting his eyes in an attempt to not get sick again.

The dragon curled against Hiccup's stomach and purred, and Hiccup let himself relax.

He was still in danger, but at least now he had a friend.


	7. Chapter 7

**WHO WANTS TO KILL DAGUR? CAN I SEE A SHOW OF HANDS? *waves hands over head* :) Sorry I didn't update yesterday. I just saw "Have Dragon Will Travel" parts one and two, and...**

 **WHAT!?**

 **WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT!? HOW CAN HEATHER BE *insert spoiler here* WHAT!? WHAT!? WWWWWHHHHHAAAAT!?**

 **So, I'm writing a fanfiction what-if for that episode, but shhhh, no telling anyone. XD I'll probably start posting it later on today or tomorrow...so...yeah. Shout-outs:**

 **Lightclaw's Shadow: Ugh, Dagur. Leave Hiccup ALONE!**

 **LunarCatNinja: Yeah! Dagur should totally get sick...**

 **HiccupHaddockIII: Thanks! I'm glad you thought it was funny. :D**

 **HappyPup1: Yes, he did the hand thing! I love it when he does the hand thing! :D Thanks!**

 **Annanarra: Yeah, being sick is no fun. I'm glad I'm giving you a few laughs. :D**

 **sophhascoconuts: I honestly don't know how much darker this story's gonna get. I already have it all planned out in my head, so...I'll think about making it a bit darker, at least. Maybe a few dastardly cliffhangers here and there... :D**

 **Animals Rule: Aww, thank you! You are awesome, too! :D**

 **Sadielover1470: Thanks! Haha. Dagur is such a casual villain in the TV series.**

 **ScarletNightFury: Cute names! I already have one planned out for this Terror, though, but I'll use those names in other stories soon! If you don't mind, of course. :)**

* * *

"DAGUR HAS HICCUP."

Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the twins shot to their feet as soon as Astrid raced into the clubhouse, followed by her dragon Stormfly and a very angry Toothless.

"What do you mean Dagur has Hiccup?" Snotlout asked; obviously, Astrid knew he would be to understand the least out of their group.

"HOW CAN I NOT BE MORE CLEAR!?" Astrid yelled. Her friends flinched, staring at her in terror by what she was saying, and her outburst. She took a deep breath. _It's not their faults,_ she reminded herself. _I'm not mad at them, I'm mad at Dagur. I'll save my voice for Dagur. I'll save my insults for that barbarian._

"Dagur took Hiccup," she repeated, and saying the words made it feel real. "He must have done it sometime last night, when we were sleeping. He left a note at Hiccup's place. He said he wants the Dragon Eye and full instructions on how to use it within a week."

Fishlegs gasped. "In a week? Was he that specific? Why?"

Astrid took in another breath. "Because," she said. "He'll kill Hiccup if we don't make it there."

"WHAT!?' they shouted in unison.

"So what are we waiting for!?" Snotlout yelled, jumping on Hookfang's back. "We have to go get him! Who knows what Dagur's doing to him!"

"We should get help from Berk," Fishlegs said. "Get the fleet together, bring them back…"

Astrid was shaking her head before Fishlegs even finished speaking. "No," she said. "We won't have time. It takes a day and a half to get to Berk by dragonback, and that's just by dragonback. It'll take probably a week for the fleet to get here by boat, and even then, we still need to find Hiccup. We don't know how far away they got during the night."

No one argued, but Astrid could tell that they were reluctant to agree at the same time.

"Alright," Fishlegs nodded; the first one to speak since the uncomfortable silence. "Alright. We're on our own now, right?"

"Aww, come on!" Snotlout groaned. "We can take him! Just let me and Hookfang take the lead, and we'll blast Dagur and his armada out of existence! Right, Fangster?" Hookfang growled in agreement, and Snotlout laughed. "Aha!" the Jorgenson said in triumph. "See? And Hookfang knows how to do stuff like that! He gets plenty practice from me!"

"We know," Astrid said.

"Uh, so," Tuffnut said, "do we even _have_ a plan?"

Astrid sighed. "As much as I hate saying this," she said, "we have to give Dagur the Dragon Eye. It's the only way we can be sure he won't hurt Hiccup." She walked over to the desk and plucked the Dragon Eye off of it before making her way back to her friends. The contraption suddenly felt oddly heavy in her grip.

"Okay," Astrid said, jumping onto Stormfly's back. "We have to leave Toothless here. None of us know how to work his tailfin."

Toothless growled sadly, his ears going flat against his head.

"I'm sorry, Toothless," Astrid said, "but Hiccup needs us to go, and we can't bring you with us. And even if we could manage it, it would take too long."

Toothless looked as though he would rather fight Dagur's entire armada twice than stay behind, but in the end, he nodded sadly, his head bowed.

"Alright," Astrid said. "We leave now. Find them, Stormfly!"

Stormfly squawked in agreement, spread her wings, and launched herself into the air. The others followed with their dragons closely.

…

After little thought and examining his scales closer, Hiccup decided to name the little Terrible Terror "Scar." It may have seemed cruel, but to Hiccup, it was a compliment. He found a little scar on the dragon's back where it looked like it had been hit with a whip, and he named the dragon Scar because it survived. He was a fighter, much like Hiccup was, even though Hiccup didn't feel like very much of a fighter at the moment.

When Dagur learned that Hiccup kept getting sick because of the motion of the boat and his illness, he refused to give the boy any food of any sort, instead leaving a bucket below decks. That was all. Not that Hiccup was complaining very much. He felt too weak to sit up, let alone yell at Dagur.

Scar was the only real comfort Hiccup had, and even then, there was only so much the little dragon could do. Hiccup's persistent fevers kept him either wide awake or in a sleep so deep he couldn't be roused, and the whole time, Scar curled against either his stomach or his chest, trying to keep the ill boy warm as he suffered with chills. He would lick Hiccup's forehead occasionally, too, as if it would help break his fever.

It was on one of the freezing nights below decks on the ship, when Hiccup was curled into himself with Scar huddled next to him in a final attempt to conserve body heat, that the Berkian finally began to despair. He wasn't getting better. He was getting worse. Far worse. His fever was high, he hadn't eaten in days, he got three cups of water each day from the Berserkers who were being "generous", according to Dagur, and even then, Hiccup always ended up hurling the water up again in the end. That alone was a sign that he was getting sicker.

The hatch leading below the decks opened, and a Berserker walked down the steps, carrying a cup and, to Hiccup's surprise and relief, a blanket. Scar growled for a moment, stopping as soon as the Berserker unlocked the cage and left the blanket and water cup inside it before leaving once again.

Hiccup thought about escaping once or twice, when a Berserker came to give him his water, but he always felt too weak to move. In the corner of his eye, he watched Scar race towards the water and blanket, and he sighed. He honestly wouldn't care if Scar drank the water. It wasn't like Hiccup would be able to keep it down. Besides, there was no way Hiccup was going to be able to move over there before the water was gone, so he just shut his eyes.

He felt something cool and wooden rub against his arm, and when he cracked his eyes open, he saw that Scar had pushed the water cup across the floor and towards the Berkian. Afterwards, Scar sat back and watched him impatiently.

Hiccup smiled faintly and sat up with difficulty, leaning against the side of his cage. "Th...thanks…" he murmured weakly, trying to keep his hands from shaking as he picked the cup off the floor and drank a few careful sips. He set the remaining water back in front of Scar, and the Terrible Terror drank it after Hiccup nodded his head in a clear, "Go ahead" motion.

Afterwards, Hiccup was sure he was going to fall asleep again, but instead, Scar pulled the blanket across the floor as well, and Hiccup took it and draped it over himself, whispering thanks to the dragon over and over again. Once Hiccup was covered, Scar took to curling against the boy's chest once again, and Hiccup laughed weakly.

"Looks like you see me as one of your own, huh, buddy?" he asked. In response, Scar grunted and fell asleep. Shortly afterwards, Hiccup did the same.


	8. Chapter 8

**19 REVIEWS LAST CHAPTER!? OH MY GOSH, GUYS! THAT IS SO AMAZING! I DON'T...I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY! Thank you all SOOOOOO much! :D You have NO IDEA what it means to me! :D**

 **I don't know how much longer this fic's gonna be...I imagine maybe four more chapters? It's hard to say at this point...anyways...**

 **I hope you all enjoy this next installment! I'll see you all next chapter! :D**

* * *

Stormfly shot over the ocean, sniffing the air in search of Dagur and his ships. So far, there was no sign of them, and Astrid was beginning to worry.

"They couldn't have gotten _that_ far!" Astrid said in disbelief, shouting to get his voice over the rushing wind. "They went by ship, obviously, and the most they could have been sailing was a few hours!"

"Are you sure Stormfly knows where she's going, Astrid?" Snotlout shouted to her.

"I am positive!" Astrid yelled back. "Stormfly knows what she's doing! She's the best tracker I know!"

As if to prove what Astrid had said, Stormfly shrieked and roared. When Astrid returned her gaze to the area in front of them, she saw what Stormfly was roaring at. Ships. Many ships. Dagur's ships, by the looks of them and the soldiers walking across them.

"We found them!" Astrid shouted. "Alright, guys! Stay in the air, and no firing! We need to get Hiccup out first!"

They had found the ships. They had found their leader again. Now, it was just a matter of getting him away from Dagur and his band of barbarians.

 _If you hurt him, Dagur,_ Astrid thought to himself, _I promise you, you are going to regret it when I'm done with you. You'll regret ever being_ born _when I'm done with you._

…

Hiccup retched into the bucket the Berserkers had so graciously supplied him with (sarcasm _so_ included) for the utmost time that day. Scar stayed in his lap, curled into a small ball, cooing and trilling at Hiccup every so often.

Hiccup coughed and panted. "I'm...I'm okay," he choked. "I'm...I'm fine…" He ducked his head again when his stomach twisted and clenched. He coughed up a thin stream of bile, hoping that all this torture would just _end_. His stomach constantly felt as though someone were punching it, and then as if a tight fist was clenching it. He felt retched. He wanted his friends to come save him, but at the same time, he wanted them safe. He didn't want them to get hurt.

He shoved the bucket away and crawled pathetically a few feet away from it and curled into himself again in a fetal position. Scar nudged his cheek and licked his forehead, and Hiccup smiled weakly at the dragon's attempts to help him.

The hatch leading below decks opened, and Dagur stepped down. "Rise and shine, Hiccup!" he said, sounding way too perky for the comforts of anyone. Hiccup opened his eyes and glared at his kidnapper. Dagur pouted. "Awww, don't be like that, brother!" he said. "Look alive! Your friends are here!"

Hiccup bolted into a sitting position, and Scar growled at Dagur. "No," Hiccup whispered, shaking his head feverishly.

"Yes," Dagur corrected, grinning madly. "Your friends are coming."

"Dagur," Hiccup said, "if...if you've hurt them in any way…"

"Oh no!" Dagur cried, although Hiccup didn't know if he was being honest or not. "Oh, I couldn't do _that_ , brother! You're not up there to witness it! That's why I'm down here. I'm going to drag you up to the deck, and you can watch your friends die! What a glorious day for - YEEOWCH!"

He stopped when Hiccup kicked Dagur's knee with his prosthetic - hard. Dagur stumbled backwards, clutching his leg. "Don't make me take that thing away from you, Hiccup," Dagur growled.

"Take the prosthetic away from the amputee," Hiccup shook his head. "That's low, even for you, Dagur. And that's saying something. Kidnapping me when I have the flu isn't exactly very nice, either, by the way."

Dagur bared his teeth. "Fine," he said. "Get up." He didn't bother tying Hiccup, simply because there wasn't anything Hiccup could do. Hiccup struggled to his feet, and Scar spread his wings, flying and landing on Hiccup's shoulder. The extra weight didn't help Hiccup, but he made no comment.

Dagur put a muzzle over Scar's mouth, despite the dragon's growls of protest, and then stepped aside to let Hiccup pass. After another glare of death, Hiccup stumbled out of the cell and up to the main deck of the ship.

The sunlight was too bright, and he squinted against it, trying to keep from getting nauseated again. When his eyes finally adjusted, he saw his friends, who were just five colorful dots in the sky.

"Astrid!" Hiccup shouted to them, hoping his voice didn't crack. "Go! Get out of here! It's a trap!"

He stopped shouting when Dagur pressed a knife against his throat. Scar growled, but knew better than to attack. One wrong move, and Hiccup would be dead.

"Let him go!" Astrid's voice carried through the wind, and Hiccup wanted so desperately to tell them to flee. "Now, Dagur!"

"Send the Dragon Eye over first!" Dagur yelled back.

For a long moment, no one moved. Dagur pressed the knife further against Hiccup's skin, drawing a thin line of blood. "It's now or never!" Dagur shouted warningly. "This is your last chance, Berkians! Do you want Hiccup or not!?"

Astrid reached into Stormfly's saddlebag and tossed the object to Dagur. Dagur grabbed it with his free hand and grinned back up at the dragon riders. "Now that's more like it," Dagur said.

"Now let him go!" Astrid demanded.

Dagur frowned. "Unfortunately, Astrid," he said, "I think I might just kill you instead."

"No!" Hiccup shouted. He thrashed, just slightly, and Dagur threw him to the deck of the ship. He lifted his hand and brought it down, and the catapults started.

"No!" Hiccup screamed again. Scar got up and attacked Dagur, but it was too late to stop the catapults. The boulders shot through the air, towards the dragon riders.

Hiccup's mind raced. His head spun. His throat burned. "SCATTER!" he screeched in his last attempt to save his friends. To his utter relief, they actually listened, scrambling in opposite directions, just as they had practiced so many times. The boulders missed them entirely.

He heard Snotlout cheer. "WHOOO!" Snotlout shouted. "I _knew_ learning that would be handy! Snotlout, Snotlout, oy, oy, oy!"

For once, Snotlout's annoying voice brought Hiccup hope.

"GET IT OFF OF ME, GET IT OFF OF ME!" Dagur yelled, his hands scrambling to grab Scar by his throat. The nimble Terror dodged every single one of Dagur's attempts, laughing as if mocking him the whole way.

"I got it, sir!" Savage shouted, grabbing an axe from the side.

"Scar, look out!" Hiccup cried.

The dragon already had it covered. He sprang to the side as Savage swung the axe, and Savage accidentally bashed the flat of it against Dagur's head. Dagur yowled in pain, and Savage dropped the axe.

"Sire!" he shouted. "I am so sorry!"

He was cut off when Dagur grabbed him and threw him into the ocean. While he was doing that, Hiccup took to removing Scar's muzzle. Almost as soon as he finished doing that, Dagur turned to him, shouted something inaudible, and raced at him.

Scar was grabbed by a Berserker and held back while Dagur ran towards Hiccup. Hiccup hardly had time to react otherwise before he found himself seized by the throat and lifted off the ground. Suddenly, he couldn't breathe.

"HICCUP!" Astrid shouted from above them. "SOMEONE GET DOWN THERE AND HELP HIM!"

There was no opening, with the catapults firing and sleeping darts whizzing through the air. Hiccup clawed at Dagur's hands around his throat, but he couldn't do anything.

Dagur's eyes hardened. "I will not lose to you again, brother," he snarled.

Without another word elsewise, Dagur dropped Hiccup into the ocean.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey, guys! ALMOST TWENTY REVIEWS LAST CHAPTER!? OH MY _GOSH_ , GUYS, I CAN'T THANK YOU ENOUGH! THANK YOU ALL SO SOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOOOOOOOO MUCH! I'm glad you all enjoy this story! I'm having too much fun writing it, haha. :D Enjoy chapter 9! :D **

* * *

As soon as Hiccup hit the water, he started sinking. He kicked his feet desperately, but with only one working leg and a prosthetic, it wasn't easy. He reached down, trying to undo the straps to his metal leg so he didn't get dragged down, but his hands were shaking too much. He couldn't see properly. The edges of his vision darkened due to lack of oxygen.

He couldn't get to the surface. He wouldn't be able to, even if he somehow managed to undo the straps to his prosthetic. He wouldn't be strong enough to swim to the surface. His legs and arms felt like jelly, and just keeping his eyes open was hard enough.

He started swallowing water automatically, just because it was his natural instinct, and he found he couldn't stop. He coughed, but it only made it worse. He was losing air fast, and there was no way for him to get more. Whenever he swallowed water, there was a sickly burning feeling the back of his throat, and no amount of coughing helped. He couldn't breathe. He swallowed more water than he wished to think about. He was choking, suffocating, drowning…

Dying.

He tried not to panic, but it happened anyways without his permission. He was going to fail his friends. He was going to die. Die, him, in a few moments if he didn't somehow get to the surface.

His eyes closed without his permission.

…

"HICCUP!" Astrid screamed as soon as she watched Dagur throw him overboard. She tried to get to him. She did, but she wasn't fast enough. She tried getting to him and stopping Dagur, but she was too late.

Now, she was _really_ going to kill Dagur.

After she saved Hiccup, of course.

Stormfly and the other dragons fired at the catapults, and as soon as there was an opening, Astrid took it. "Cover us!" Astrid hollered to her friends, and they did as she had asked without much of a second thought, keeping the Berserkers occupied on them and not her.

Hiccup still didn't resurface, and that was what was most terrifying. Astrid shut her eyes briefly, and Stormfly flew straight into the ocean, underneath the waves.

She opened her eyes again and tried to locate Hiccup, but Stormfly was already on it. She shot downwards, towards the sinking dragon rider. Astrid saw him clearly, despite the darkness of the water: he was beyond pale, his eyes closed, his body still.

He wasn't moving.

"Hiccup!" she screamed, even though her air was running out and her voice sounded like a pathetic gurgle in the water. She reached out, grabbed him, hauled him on Stormfly's back, and patted the dragon to take them up again.

Stormfly got the message, and she darted back to the surface. Astrid gasped for breath, making a silent promise to never take advantage of air again. She hugged Hiccup tightly, his head on her shoulder, his arms hanging limply at his sides. Her happiness vanished when she realized he still wasn't moving. In fact, she couldn't even feel his chest rising and falling.

No. He had to be breathing. She wasn't going to believe otherwise.

"Guys, come on!" she shouted. "We have to get out of here!"

"Dagur still has the Dragon Eye!" Snotlout yelled back. "We can't leave without it! I'm going in to get it!"

Without waiting for a response, Hookfang dove downwards. The Nightmare breathed fire on the ship, knocking Dagur over in the process. The Dragon Eye rolled on the deck, and just before Snotlout had a chance to grab it, Dagur snatched it into his grip again.

"HA!" Dagur laughed, waving the Dragon Eye over his head in triumph. "I win! I ALWAYS win! HAHAHAHAA!"

As he was still cackling, the Terrible Terror lunged at him, grabbed the Dragon Eye, and shot back into the air. Dagur's laughing cut off abruptly. "NO!" he shouted at the dragon ."GIVE THAT BACK!"

In response, the dragon stuck his tongue out and handed the Dragon Eye to Snotlout. Snotlout then turned and flew off, followed by Scar.

"I WILL GET MY REVENGE, YOU HEAR ME!?" Dagur screamed. "YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE LAST OF ME! THE DRAGON EYE IS MINE, AND I. WILL. HAVE IT!"

The riders weren't listening to him at that point, too far away to hear him screeching at them. Astrid was shaking Hiccup desperately, putting her ear against his chest.

"Is he alright!?" Snotlout demanded.

"No!" Astrid cried. "He isn't breathing!" She put her fingers at the pulse point on Hiccup's neck, and then put her ear over his chest again. "I can't hear his heart!"

That was all she had to say before the others panicked.

"There!" Snotlout shouted desperately. "A sea stack! Land on it!"

They didn't need to be told a second time. Their dragons landed on the sea stack in an orderly fashion, and Astrid stumbled off Stormfly's back, laying Hiccup on the ground in front of her. The others crowded around them, looking panicked.

"What do we do!?" Fishlegs panicked. "I don't know what to do!"

Ruffnut and Tuffnut, for possibly the first time in their lives, looked horrified.

Astrid didn't know what to do. She had seen other people do it once or twice when someone had drowned and swallowed too much water, but she didn't know how to go along with it. She knew Hiccup had water where his air was supposed to be, and she also knew that if he was going to breathe, he needed his lungs cleared.

She'd seen it done before, she didn't know how to do it, but that wasn't going to stop her. If she had a chance at saving Hiccup's life, she was going to take it.

So, she put her hands over Hiccup's chest and pushed down repeatedly as she tried to get her friend to breathe again. The whole time, she was sobbing, desperately trying to hold her tears back even though they fell anyway. If there was one thing that terrified her, it was losing Hiccup. Not so much him being sick or hurt, as long as he recovered and wasn't in pain, but losing him would just be too much

"Come on, Hiccup," she pleaded through her tears. "Come, on, please, breathe," she chanted between pushes. "Hiccup, please, breathe…"

She couldn't lose him.

 _She couldn't lose him._


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello, guys! Thanks for all the reviews last chapter. I wanted to give you this chapter...I'll probably update tomorrow. I have three stories going right now, and I'm trying to update them all at least once a day, and so far, it's been working for me, so YAY! :D**

 **I have a POLL up on my profile to help me decide which story to write next, so if you guys want to vote, go ahead and vote. It'll help me. :D Enjoy chapter 10! :D**

* * *

She kept pushing, trying desperately to pump the water out of his lungs. It wasn't working, by the fact that he remained unconscious and unbreathing, and it terrified her. She would have to do mouth-to-mouth after she reached thirty compressions. She didn't want to get sick, but even that was an afterthought. It wouldn't matter either way if Hiccup died. She knew the grief of losing Hiccup would affect a lot of people - Stoick, Toothless, the dragon riders, _herself…_

She kept pushing. She was at twenty five now. "Twenty six, twenty seven, twenty eight, twenty nine," she chanted under her breath. Behind her, Ruffnut and Tuffnut were holding each other in comfort while Snotlout tried to look as manly as possible despite the tears in his eyes, and Fishlegs wasn't even trying to hide his sobbing.

Neither was Astrid. She was crying freely, begging Hiccup to breathe again, pleading him to take a breath. When she reached thirty, she pinched his nose closed, put her mouth over his, and tried to give him some air.

Almost instantly, he jerked, and she barely had enough time to pull away and roll him over on his side before he coughed up whatever seawater was clogging his lungs. Astrid heard Snotlout and the twins whoop in unison, followed by a "SMACK" that could only come from a harsh high-five. That smack was pursued by a _CLASH_ , and when Astrid stole a glance over her shoulder, she saw Ruffnut and Tuffnut bashing their heads together.

Fishlegs looked ready to cry all over again, this time from relief, and the little Terrible Terror screeched in joy.

Hiccup blinked at Astrid, his eyes unfocused. "Astrid?" he croaked. "Did...did I miss something?"

Astrid slid her arm beneath his head and held him, supporting his heavy head in the crook of her elbow. She laughed giddily, her voice quiet. "Besides escaping Dagur and his armada and nearly drowning, no," she said. She was grinning madly, and after a few moments, Hiccup smiled back weakly.

It faded rather quickly when he shut his eyes and moaned. "Aaahhgg...my head…"

Astrid turned her head and looked back at the others, holding Hiccup closer to her subconsciously. "We need to get him back to Dragon's Edge," she said determinedly. "We need to get him in bed, give him some medicine, and then send someone to Berk to get help."

The others nodded in agreement, Fishlegs and the twins mounting their dragons while Snotlout stepped forward to help Astrid get Hiccup on Stormfly's back.

"I got him," Astrid said, but accepted the Jorgenson's help anyway. Stormfly crouched low to the ground, and Astrid, with Snotlout's assistance, managed to get on her back with Hiccup resting in her arms. As soon as Snotlout mounted Hookfang, she shouted, "Let's go!", and the dragon riders headed back towards their base.

The edges of Hiccup's bangs were damp, and Astrid brushed them off his forehead repeatedly although the wind constantly blew them back into his face. She could feel his fever persisting, higher than it was before, and she was filled with concern all over again.

She also couldn't help but notice he was thinner than she remembered him being. Sure, he was thin normally, but now...she figured it came from barfing his guts up, and Dagur probably didn't feed him very much, either.

She wanted to kill the deranged maniac. She wanted to kill Dagur _so, so, so_ badly, but she didn't have time, what with Hiccup nearly dying and all.

"Nuugghh…" Hiccup groaned, and Astrid instantly refocused her attention to him. His eyes were still shut tightly in pain, and she felt as though her heart were being stabbed. "Head...hurts...stomach…hurts...everything...hurts…"

Astrid carded her fingers through his thick, auburn hair, trying desperately not to cry. She couldn't stand seeing him in pain. He was shivering, his body wracked with chills due to his fever, and her heart was breaking for him all over again. "Shh, it's alright," she soothed. "We've got you now. You're safe."

Hiccup gazed up at her, his eyes dull, his face pale. "You...guys...okay?" he whispered.

Astrid couldn't believe him. Here he was, sick and malnourished, and he was worried about anyone but himself. "Yeah, we're fine," she assured him, holding his bangs back off his forehead so that he could see her clearly. "We're safe. We all are."

"Tooth...Toothless?" Hiccup asked, blearily.

"He's safe, too," Astrid promised. "Toothless is back at Dragon's Edge, safe and sound. Probably scared out of his mind, though, I might add." She smiled unconvincingly, and Hiccup smiled back, although it was weak and pain filled. "Try to get some rest," she offered, running her fingers through his hair and applying gentle pressure to his scalp in what she hoped was a calming gesture. "We won't get back to Dragon's Edge for another hour or so. You have time to sleep. Don't worry. We'll get you back to the Edge, get you warmed up some...you'll be feeling better before you even know it. For now, just let me know if you think you're going to throw up, alright?"

He nodded and let his eyes close. His breathing deepened, and in a heartbeat, Astrid knew he was sleeping. She didn't blame him. Poor lad was probably exhausted, along with being sick.

"Is he okay?" Fishlegs asked as he flew alongside Stormfly, flanked by Hookfang.

Astrid was about to say "Yes", but the more she thought about it, the more her mind begged to differ. _Okay? Define okay?_ Just because Hiccup was breathing didn't mean that all was well. He was still sick and weak and feverish.

"No, he's not okay," Astrid said. "He's alive, but he's not okay. He needs medical attention. As soon as we get back to the Edge-" At this, she looked at the rider of the Monstrous Nightmare, "-you and the twins need to go get Gothi from Berk. Maybe get Stoick, too. Fishlegs, you need to stay and help me take care of Hiccup."

They nodded in unison. It sounded like a good plan, and besides, no one had a better idea.

So back to Dragon's Edge it was.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello, guys! Thanks for all the AAAMMMAZING reviews last chapter, by the way! :D**

 **I expect there to be one more chapter after this one, and then we're DONE!**

 **OHMYGOSH we're almost done with this story, I can't believe it...**

 **Okay, so I'm going to stop talking for now. I know I get pretty annoying sometimes...and you're all agreeing, okay...XD**

 **Enjoy chapter 11! :D**

* * *

When they landed back at Dragon's Edge, Fishlegs raced off to find some herbs while Snotlout helped Astrid get Hiccup into his house. Toothless was there, and the minute he saw his rider's unconscious state, he panicked, running forward, sniffing Hiccup and licking his cheek. He recoiled at the distinct smell of sick and sweat, and he looked up at Astrid for an explanation.

"He's sick, Toothless," Astrid explained quickly. Between her and Snotlout, they managed to get Hiccup upstairs and into his bed. Afterwards, Snotlout raced back downstairs, calling, "The twins and I are going back to Berk to get help!" over his shoulder as he left.

As soon as the door shut indicating his departure, it opened again, and Fishlegs walked up the stairs and appeared in the doorway, carrying two pails. He set one down on the table - it smelled faintly like chicken. It was broth, then. The other one he set down next to the bed - cool water, with a cloth already dunked in it.

"I'll be back with some herbs," Fishlegs said. His voice sounded shaky and uneasy, and it wasn't hard to see why.

Astrid nodded to him, calling, "Bring some extra blankets, too!" as he raced off. While he left, she squeezed the excess water out of the cloth, and then used it to dab Hiccup's feverish forehead.

She re-wet the rag and left it on his forehead before heading downstairs to fetch a bowl and a spoon. She could tell Hiccup was underweight in a heartbeat - he was a lot thinner than he was, due to his flu bug and the fact that Dagur hadn't exactly been treating him very well.

He was skinny naturally, but she didn't want him getting thinner, so she had her mind set on getting him to eat a little bit more. Even if he did end up throwing it up later (which she hoped he didn't), he needed something in his system, or he was only going to get sicker.

She put her hand on his shoulder and shook it firmly yet gently, and after a few moments, his eyes flickered open, revealing dazed, unfocused eyes. He blinked at her in confusion.

"Hiccup," she said, her voice barely rising above a whisper. He still didn't seem to register his name being called, and Astrid shook his shoulder again. "Hiccup, are you awake?"

Hiccup blinked at her again. "Astrid?" he mumbled.

"Yeah, it's me," Astrid said. "Who'd you think it was? Snotlout?"

Hiccup didn't respond to her joke. In fact, he looked ready to pass out again, so soon after waking up.

"Hey, look at me," Astrid coaxed in the gentlest way she knew (which was probably more rough than she intended) as she put her hand on his cheek and turned his head, forcing him to look at her whether he liked it or not. He blinked again - he did a lot of that, it seemed.

"Now," Astrid said, spooning broth out of the bowl, "you're going to eat, and then you're going to rest, alright? Let me know if anything hurts, okay? Can you hear me, Hiccup?"

"Y-yeah, I can hear you," Hiccup stuttered, although he still didn't seem fully _there_. She held the spoon to his mouth, and after a few moments, he swallowed some of the broth, and she was relieved because of it.

It took more coaxing each spoonful he took, and that was only because he kept zoning out or falling asleep right in the middle of it. When the bowl was empty, Astrid deemed her work finished for the time being. She would give him more later on.

"You alright?" she asked, but didn't get her response before Hiccup was out like a light, breathing shallowly through his mouth.

She sighed. He was still so sick, so weak, so vulnerable...it made her hate Dagur all the more, but she knew there wasn't any going _back_ for Dagur, per se. All she could do was plot her revenge and hope he caught Hiccup's stomach flu.

When Fishlegs returned with the blankets and the herbs, Astrid coaxed the herbal remedy down Hiccup's throat, and afterwards, she and Fishlegs removed his armor - it didn't seem very comfortable to be sleeping in, and if right now was any indication, Hiccup was going to be sleeping a lot. She undid the straps to his prosthetic and set it by the bed. She remembered how sometimes, he told her his prosthetic was painful to wear all the time. The last thing she wanted was for him to be in any more pain.

After she and Fishlegs finished that, Fishlegs headed off while Astrid covered Hiccup with multiple blankets. She would have been worried with how many she was piling on him if he hadn't been shivering so violently.

Afterwards, she left Hiccup with Toothless and headed downstairs.

…

Hiccup woke up, feeling more exhausted than he had ever felt before in his life. He sat up, wincing for a moment and clutching his head. Everything around him was a swirl of blurry colors for a few minutes before his vision finally swam into focus.

He was in his room, on Dragon's Edge, alone. The first thing he registered, looking beyond the pain in his head (he would have to ask someone about that later, because he was confused as to why his head pounded so much), was that no one else was around. Not Toothless, not Astrid, not anyone.

He sat up, just as a small, Terrible Terror flew through the window. "Scar!" Hiccup said, ignoring how his voice cracked. The little dragon landed on Hiccup's knee, and Hiccup rubbed his head. "How're ya doing, little guy?" Hiccup asked.

Scar cooed and rubbed against Hiccup's hand in response. Hiccup smiled back again, and Scar flew back out the window. He noticed that the Terrible Terror looked healthier than he had the first time Hiccup saw him, and it made him smile in relief. His friends must have been taking care of Scar. He made a mental note to thank them later.

He tried to get to his feet, but then, he ended up toppling to the floor, not because of his headache - he had headaches plenty of times in the not-so-distant past. He could deal with one more - but because he realized his metal leg wasn't attached. He sighed. How annoying.

He heard footsteps, and when he finally lifted his head off the ground, he saw Astrid standing in the doorway. She stared at him for a few moments, and then, her features brightened into a smile. "Hiccup!" she shouted, racing towards him. She hugged him from where he was on the floor, squeezing him so tightly that for a few moments, he couldn't breathe.

"Astrid-" Hiccup gasped. "Ribs...cracking...can't...breathe…"

"Oh, right." She pulled away, her hands still on his shoulders. "I guess you need to breathe, huh." Hiccup nodded, still trying to get his breath back. There were a few moments of silence before Astrid spoke again. "Why are you on the floor?" she asked.

Hiccup sighed. "Because I tried to get up."

"Why'd you do that?" At this, Astrid offered him her hand, which he took. "Your prosthetic isn't attached."

"I know that _now_."

Astrid pulled him to his feet - foot, to be correct - and shoved him back against the bed. "You should be resting," she said, although Hiccup could hear the hidden worry in her tone. She grabbed his prosthetic and handed it to him, and he took to strapping it on once again. "You've been out of it for days."

"Days?" Hiccup asked. Just as he asked it, his headache returned, and he clenched his teeth to keep from crying out, squeezing his eyes shut tightly and clutching his head in pain.

"Hiccup?" Astrid asked, her worry evident in her voice. She grabbed him by his shoulders and forced him to lay down again, not that he was protesting. "You shouldn't be up," Astrid said. "You shouldn't be moving. You need to rest. You're still recovering."

Hiccup nodded.

"Here, I'm going to get you some soup," Astrid said. She bent down, kissed his forehead, and headed downstairs.

He didn't want to eat, but he did want water. "Astrid, wait," he called. "Could you get me some water?"

"I'm not your slave, but I'll do it!" Astrid called back.

"And maybe my charcoal?"

"Not your slave!"

"My notebook would be nice!"

"Oh my _Thor_ , Hiccup!"

"Love you, too!"


	12. Chapter 12

**This is the last chapter, guys...**

 **Guys. This is the last chapter.**

 **Guuuuuyyyyss...**

 **I'm going to miss this story so MUCH! I love writing sick Hiccup fanfictions...I haven't done many of them, actually. I've done "Wolves", which is chuck-full of Hiccup!Whump, and then a few more recent ones...**

 **Wow.**

 **So, thank you all for all the support you guys gave this story! I hope to see you all again soon! :D Enjoy the final chapter!**

* * *

"Here's your charcoal, your notebook, your water, and some soup," Astrid said, placing the objects on the table as she called them out. "Except I don't want you using your notebook for anything until you rest up some more."

Hiccup laughed softly. "I didn't think you would actually listen to me," he said.

Astrid rolled her eyes. "Don't get used to it, Dragon Boy," she said, tapping his nose. "I'm only helping you because you're sick and can't help yourself, alright? It won't be a regular thing."

Hiccup nodded, taking the cup of water off the table and downing it. It felt good to be able to stomach things again and not feel like he was going to be barfing his guts up sooner or later. Plus, the cool water was soothing to his dry throat, and it cooled him down, despite the fever that still burned through his veins.

"Thanks," he said, almost dreamily as he stopped to take a breath.

Astrid shrugged. "It's good to finally see you keep something down," she said. "How do you feel, all around?"

"Not too bad," Hiccup said, although he felt the complete opposite. He felt wretched. Not so much in his stomach anymore, but now, it was in his head. The throbbing ache, the burning feeling of the fever in his body…

"Uh-huh," Astrid said, smirking. "Right. Come get me when you come back to your senses." Without another word elsewise, she stood up and headed for the stairs.

"Wait," Hiccup said. "Where are you going?"

"Downstairs," Astrid said. "I'll be there if you need me. And I mean _need_ me. Not _want me to get you something_ , alright, Princess Outpost Hiccup?" Hiccup sighed, opening his mouth to protest, but Astrid beat him to it. "No," she said. "I don't want to hear it. Get some rest, alright?"

Hiccup sighed again, but nodded. There was no arguing with her, and he of all people knew that. "Alright," he said. "Alright…"

He was asleep before Astrid even made it downstairs.

He woke up what he assumed was hours later, feeling exhausted. He didn't understand it. It seemed the more he slept, the more exhausted he felt. His headache had dimmed down, but he knew that if he stood up too fast or jogged or ran, it would get worse instantly.

He realized he was alone again. Toothless wasn't even there. Hiccup scanned his surroundings; nope, he was definitely alone.

He didn't like to admit it very much, but he hated being alone. Sometimes it was nice, to get away from everything, especially when that "everything" included the twins or Snotlout, but he didn't like to be by himself. He didn't like to be _lonely_ , more like. He didn't mind being alone, but lonely…

He didn't want that. His father always told him when he was sick he was oddly clingy, and Hiccup thought that maybe since he was older, he had grown out of it, but now…

He sighed. He hadn't grown out of it. He still wanted someone with him, beit Astrid or Toothless, or someone else, really. Even Fishlegs would be alright. Not the twins or Snotlout, because they would probably be too loud and end up making his headache worse, but Fishlegs and Astrid were quiet enough, and Toothless was the same when Hiccup was sick.

Hiccup sighed and got to his feet shakily. He realized his armor wasn't on, but he didn't have much time to think about that. It didn't matter to him, in complete honesty. He shivered after stepping out of his warm bed, and he grabbed a blanket to pull around his shoulders. It wasn't perfect, but it helped, and it made him feel warmer and a little better.

He stumbled down the stairs. It was easier to walk than he had anticipated, but he was still careful so he didn't trip. The first thing he saw when he got to the bottom of the steps was Astrid, sitting on a bench, her face buried in one of Hiccup's invention notebooks.

She lifted her head. "What the heck is 'Dragonfly One'?" she asked.

Hiccup shook his head. "Just somethin' I was workin' on," he murmured. He shuffled across the room, sitting next to Astrid on the bench. She set the notebook to the side, her attention on Hiccup.

"You look awful," she commented, putting her hand against his cheek. He sighed. He kind of felt awful, too. His head was heavy, and he leaned against Astrid's hand. "Why'd you get up?"

"I don't like being by myself." Hiccup leaned to the side, laying his head in Astrid's lap.

She laughed softly and carded her fingers through his sweaty hair. "Remember that time you got a cold when you were six?" she asked.

Hiccup smiled, his eyes closed. "Of course," he said. "My Dad was looking for the dragon's nest, so your Mom agreed to watch me while he was away."

"That's right." Astrid moved his bangs out of his eyes. "You were the most annoying boy I ever saw. I didn't think it was possible for a six year old to be so obnoxious."

"You can't blame me that much," Hiccup muttered. "I was sick."

"Yep," Astrid said. "And not much has changed. You're still as clingy as ever."

"Oh shut up. I'm not clingy."

"Oh, really? Then get up and get back in your room. I dare you."

"Don't wanna."

"That's what I thought."

Hiccup sighed. He felt too tired to argue with her. It wouldn't have made a difference anyway, in the end. "Fine, you win," he finally mumbled.

"I always do," Astrid said, putting her hand on his forehead. "Your fever went down."

"Mm hmm…" Hiccup was barely awake right now, hardly even hearing what she was saying. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he _did_ feel a bit cooler. "Yeah...'suppose you're right…"

"I usually am," Astrid smiled. She tucked his blanket around him and smoothed it. "You can sleep now. And no, I won't go telling the twins and Snotlout about how childish you are."

Hiccup didn't even utter a comeback. "Thank you, Astrid," he whispered instead. "For everything."

The last thing he heard was Astrid whispering a quick "You're welcome" before the soothing tendrils of sleep washed over him, and he was tugged into a peaceful rest for the first time in what felt like forever.

...

"Dagur, sir...are you ill, sire?"

Dagur didn't even look back at Savage. The ex-Outcast had, of course, dragged himself back onto the ship even though Dagur threw him overboard. Dagur couldn't bring himself to care very much. He felt miserable. His body felt as though it were on fire, being burned, and his stomach felt as though it were doing flipflops on sharp stones.

"I AM NOT ILL," Dagur shouted, and Savage instantly raced out of the room. But not before Dagur grabbed a bucket and hurled his stomach contents into it.

Dagur was mad at Hiccup. That was what he was, dismissing the fact he was sick. That stupid Berkian got him the stomach flu.

 _I really_ shouldn't _have kidnapped him_ , Dagur told himself.

"I will get my revenge soon enough!" Dagur ducked his head again, groaning in his misery. "Just not right now…"

One thing was certain:

Kidnapping Hiccup when he was sick was _not_ worth it, and it was a mistake that Dagur would _never_ make a second time.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Soooooo that's the end! :D I feel happy now. Twelve chapters? Not bad. Especially considering the fact that I didn't expect this to go over 6 chapters...so….**

 **Yeah. I'm thinking about writing a story called "Fireworm Fever", which will be almost a what-if to the episode, "Reign of Fireworms." Let me know what you guys think. I won't give away too much information on it right now...but you'll learn more if I write it. :) Maybe in a few weeks I'll start posting it...I need to leave _some_ time between my sick Hiccup fanfictions. :D **

**Until next story!**

 **-BeyondTheClouds777**


End file.
